San Antonio — A detention officer at a San Antonio jail was arrested Thursday on charges that he gave a hacksaw to inmates planning a jailbreak, officials said.
Alfred Casas, 30, was arrested on the job without incident and charged with providing implements for escape/deadly weapon. His bail was set at $15,000. The jail had no information on whether he has an attorney.
Casas has worked for the Bexar County Sheriff's Office for three years, officials said.
Bexar County Sheriff's Deputy Chief Roger Dovalina told the San Antonio Express-News that morale is low among other officers concerned that "one bad apple" will ruin their reputations.
"We have a case here that doesn't happen very often," Dovalina said.
Five unidentified inmates face charges in the alleged escape plot. All were facing high sentences and bail amounts. They are being held in separate, high-security cells, Dovalina said.
They were discovered Saturday when officials found 30-foot ropes, dyed prisoner clothing and hacksaw blades in their cells. They had succeeded in sawing off a metal bracket from a window in an outside recreation area. They still would have had to get through a metal screen that covered the window, officials said.
The inmates used teabags to dye their orange prison jumpsuits dark brown. Officials also found a broken window and a brick that had been chipped away.
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